When CEOs shook a leg to raise funds for charity

Dance is a medium, which is used not just for entertainment, but also for other purposes. And one of the most popular ways of making a long lasting impression in people’s mind is to use dance to create awareness and awakens the society through dance. This is what I tried to do at a recent event. I am fortunate to be the Cause Ambassador of a non-government organisation called Catalyst of Social Actions (CSA). This wonderful organisation was established in 2002, as a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the cause of child welfare. CSA works as a “catalyst” to enable holistic care and optimum rehabilitation for every orphaned child and promotes, supports, networks, advocates and acts as a catalyst to achieve these objectives. It currently supports 48 agencies covering over 1,600 plus orphans. CSA works out of four states — Maharashtra, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. As its ambassador for three years now, I am proud to say that we have been able to do some amazing work with orphan children in different states and are continuing to do better. But, the problem that every NGO faces are funds and a fundraiser is always on the agenda. This year too CSA organised an art auction like every year, but to spice up the evening so that the rich and the famous could loosen their pockets for the auction, CSA came up with a unique idea. The idea was a dance show by famous and well placed adoptive parents. When I was told this, I was a bit hesitant to be honest, as the most difficult job is to make a busy person dance. It was not about them being non dancers, but about the busy corporate world being full of pressure and loads of travel that leaves CEOs and owners no time for a personal life. How would they take time out to dance and that too dance for a cause! I was worried about the quality of the dance performance and how the show would look more than their dancing skills. But, finally four highly-placed couples from the corporate world agreed to be a part of the show and did not shy away from talking being proud adoptive parents. I am very thankful to Shibani and Vipul Jain, CEO and MD of Accelya Kale; Paru and Pradeep Mathani, CEO of helpyourngo.com; Swati and Atul Sikka, head of wealth management for Merrill Lynch; Vishakha and Rahul Singh, head equity research at Standard Chartered bank equity, for taking up the challenge and dedicatedly giving all the time from their busy schedules to my instructor Pratiek Kadam, Shekar Shivlangi, Goutam Kumar and Zenon Desilva. They all worked so hard that they took me by surprise when I met them for the final dance rehearsals. After giving last minutes tips we were all getting ready for the show, but as always, every show has glitches and problems, and so did this show. Pradeep’s wife Paru had an accident and had to drop out at the last minute and that is when my instructor Ankita Dolawat came in to fill her space. On the main day, after a short prayer, the show began, sitting on the front row I could not stop my tears when I watched each of them burn the floor with confidence of a professional dancer. From Contemporary to Waltz, from Jive to Bollywood there was every dance form on display with the audience cheering and clapping for the CEO dancers, a sight rarely seen. That night CSA raised `42 lakh at the fourth annual charity dinner and art auction, which was held at Taj Lands End in Mumbai. Art pieces auctioned on Saturday evening were created by celebrity artists such as Arzan Khambata, Brinda Miller, Bina Aziz, Jaya Lamba, among many others. Celebrity architect, columnist and a dear friend Nisha Jamvwal was the Master of Ceremony and conducted the auction of art pieces. I would like to bring to your notice that there are more than two crore orphans in India, out of which only a few lakh orphans are under the care of an orphanage. Most of these orphanages lack infrastructure and resources to provide quality upbringing to these children so that they grow up as responsible citizens of India. As the cause ambassador, I am overwhelmed by the response and the funds received through this event, I am sure that the funds raised will be channelised in the development and welfare of orphaned children by CSA.